The Chamber of Hope
by Cookie
Summary: It's been eight years since Harry's been at Hogwarts, but when Ron goes missing, he has no othe choice but to go back!


The Chamber of Hope 

Chapter one: The Problem

Chapter two: The Solution 

Chapter three: Back to Hogwarts

Chapter four: The Chamber of Hope

Chapter five: Finding Out

Chapter six: Hagrid's Secret

Chapter seven: The Physic 

Chapter eight: The Pridetongue

Chapter nine: The Griffin 

Chapter ten: Helga Huffelpuff 

Chapter eleven: We'll miss you…

Chapter twelve: Back to normal life

Chapter one: The Problem

Harry Potter sighed and unfolded his newspaper. 

__

Hogwarts continues search for new headmaster! 

Hogwarts. Has it really been eight years?! He thought to himself, sighing miserably. _Yes it has. _A voice inside his head replied. _It has been eight years since the last time you've been there. _He sat up suddenly. Someone was breathing on the back of his neck slightly. He turned around to see his youngest daughter, Carrie, had been reading, or at least, _trying _to read, over his shoulder. 

"What are you doing?" He asked, grinning slightly. Carrie laughed. He yanked her over the back of the chair onto his lap and pecked her on the forehead, making her shriek in joy. The doorknob on the front door started shaking slightly, then harder, and then finally someone knocked on the door. Harry laughed. _Hermione can never get those keys to work. _He thought. Still holding Carrie he opened the door to find a disheveled Hermione on the front doorstep. Harry had to hold back laughs. 

"Bad day at the ministry?" He asked her, letting her step inside and closing the door behind her. 

"You bet. Malfoy sold some muggle a flying car. The muggle tried to turn on the air conditioning, and well…" She sighed. "I spent the whole day putting memory charms on all of the muggles that saw. Unfortunately, she managed to start flying right on one of the busiest streets in New York." 

"New York? You did some traveling today!" Hermione rolled her eyes, and then looked to Carrie, smiling. She looked back to Harry. 

"Did you get any owls from our children?" She lowered her head. "I'm never at home any more it seems." She sighed again. "I can't even remember the time that Natasha and Ron get home from Wizard Elementary." 

"3:00. It's 2:00 right now, they'll be thrilled to see you. Oh and no, we didn't get any from the ones at Hogwarts." 

"How about the ones at Hogsmells?" Hermione asked. 

"Yes, one from James. He says he likes how new the building is, but he wishes there weren't as many wild animals running around it." Harry smiled. "We should have known that if Hagrid helped established it there would have been a lot of animals." 

"Yes. I just still can't believe that he and Dumbeldore left Hogwarts just to make Hogsmells." Hermione said.

"Mmmhhh." The phone suddenly started ringing. Hermione picked it up. 

"Hello? Oh hi Ginny! What…? You aren't serious….? Oh my God. Yes, sure you can come right over." Hermione's face went whiter than Harry had ever seen it. "Yes, I'll see you in a bit. Ok, bye." She set down the phone with a shaky hand. 

"Hermione! What's wrong?" 

"Ron…he's missing!"

Chapter Two: The Solution

"Oh Hermione! Thanks for letting me come over." A teary-faced Ginny cried. 

"Of course Ginny! Go ahead and sit down." Ginny did in a big blue armchair. 

"Now, what exactly do you mean Ron's missing?" Ginny took a shaky breath, and then began. 

"Well you know how Ron and I have been living in the same apartment until we can get enough money to live on our own? Oh of course you know…well anyway, Ron got an owl from Dumbeldore offering him a job as Potions teacher at Hogsmells. Ron sent an owl back saying that he would go…so about five days ago he set off on broom to go to Hogsmells and take the job. And today, Dumbeldore sent me an owl saying that Ron never arrived. The broom ride to Hogsmells from where we live would only take a day, maybe two if there were bad weather." 

"Well maybe there was a _really _bad storm and he just decided to stop somewhere for a while…" Hermione suggested. Ginny shook her head. 

"Parvati called me today also. You know how physic she's become after Hogwarts, and she said that she had predicted that Ron hadn't made it to Hogsmells, and that it wasn't because of bad weather. And Parvati is never wrong. And just to make sure, I even checked up on the weather over where he would have been flying, and for every place it said that it has been bright and sunny for the last week." 

"Did you check up on the broom using your pixie powder stuff?" Harry asked Ginny, who looked confused. "You know, that stuff that can tell you where Ron's broom was last flying at?" 

"Oh you mean Cleansweap-Nimbus-Fire-Lightning-Bolt-Pixie Dust?" 

"Uh…yeah that's it." 

"Yes, and it said the last place that his broom was flying over was Hogwarts." 

"Poor Ron!" Hermione cried. Harry, however, was grinning broadly. 

"It's not poor Ron yet. Start packing Hermione, we're going back to Hogwarts!" 

Chapter Three: Back to Hogwarts 

"What do you mean we're going back to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, looking shocked. 

"_I mean, _pack up, we're going back to Hogwarts!"   
"Harry, that's…that's crazy! I'm a mother…I'm the minister of magic…I have things to do…I can't…" Hermione started. 

"What, you're saying that your job is more important than your friends?" 

"No, of course not…but…but…who will look after the kids?" Harry stopped smiling suddenly, this, obviously, was something he had not yet put into consideration. 

"Well…" 

"I will." Ginny said suddenly. 

"You will? Thanks Ginny! Now we can go find Ron!" Harry exclaimed, looking excited. 

"Not that I enjoy dampening your spirits Harry, but we're 25! We're too old to keep going on these silly adventures!" Hermione said, frowning. Harry, however, had already started grabbing things from their bedroom. He came back out with a tightly packed suitcase. 

"That's ok. If you don't want to go, you don't have to. But I'm going, with or without you." He said calmly, and walked right out of the front door, leaving it wide open. 

"Harry! Harry wait!" Hermione cried. _You know you're going to regret this Hermione! _A voice inside her head told her. _You know you will!_ "No I won't!" Hermione said out loud to the voice in her head, making Ginny look at her with surprise. "Harry, wait! I'm coming too!" She yelled through the open door, and then ran out after him. 

~

"Oh, it's so cold up here." Hermione complained for the hundredth time. 

"Don't worry Hermione, only about another half an hour and we should be there. And besides, we're lucky that it's taking this short of an amount of time… if we were on the Hogwarts express it would take much longer. 

"Yes well at least it would be warmer." Hermione grumbled. The trip went on like that… Hermione grumbled about the temperature and then Harry would tell her how much longer it would be, and then five minutes later, it started all over again. Harry was relieved when they finally reached Hogwarts. 

The sight of it almost brought tears to his eyes…it was so familiar. Harry dismounted his broom and walked to the castle doors, which bent themselves into a smile at seeing him. Harry and Hermione stood in front of the door. If they had been at school there, they would have walked right through it…but it had been so long…they didn't exactly _belong _here any more. It was horrible…they felt like strangers, afraid to open the door and walk right in. 

"Should we knock or go right in?" Harry asked uncertainly. 

"Knock?" Hermione suggested, just as uncertainly. 

"Ok." Harry knocked on the door awkwardly. An unkempt Professor McGongall opened it. 

"Potter! Granger! Thank Goodness you're here!" Harry and Hermione stared at her. "I heard you were on your way; one of you must be here to take over position of Headmaster." 

"Oh, no Professor McGongall we're just…" Hermione started, but Professor McGongall went on like she didn't hear her. 

"Potter, you must be the one. Always so close to Dumbeldore, I could tell you liked his job. Oh the students will be so happy to hear that you're their new Headmaster! Come in, they're having their dinner. I'll present you to them right now, although they already know who you are, no doubt. Oh, they'll be so pleased!" She said, smiling for one of the first times ever. Harry wasn't sure what to do. The next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of the Great Hall, while all of the children gasped, except for _their _children, who were both smiling at the sight of them. "Children!" Professor McGongall called strictly. "This is your new Headmaster!" The whole hall applauded. 

"Knock, huh?" Harry muttered to Hermione, who was blushing furiously. 

~

After much excitement, food and drink, being stared at, talked to and about, and laughed at, (by the Slytheriens, of course,) Harry was finally able to relax on a huge four-poster bed in his new room. Hermione was sitting on the bed next to him. She hadn't said a thing the whole night. 

"Well." She finally started. "That was unexpected." 

Chapter four: The Chamber of Hope

"What are we going to tell Professor McGongall?" Harry asked Hermione the next morning. 

"Well, obviously we have to tell her that you can't be Headmaster." 

"But…she seemed so happy to see us here…" Harry started, frowning. 

"Harry Potter, are you saying that you actually _want _to be Headmaster?" 

"Well, not forever…"  
"Harry," Hermione started, grinning, "you're crazy. Now, while you, Professor Potter, are disciplining bad children, I will be in the library." 

"Ah, you mean Hermione's sanctuary?" Harry asked her, grinning also. Hermione blushed furiously at the mention of what the library had been nicknamed by the Gryffindors.

"Oh, shut up." She said. 

"Hey, you call me crazy, and I have to get revenge." Harry replied, still grinning. 

When Hermione had said that Harry would be 'disciplining bad children' she hadn't been kidding. It seemed like that all day that was all that he had done. He was relieved when finally the school day ended and he got a chance to talk to Hermione, who had apparently found out a great deal about where Ron might be. 

"Well, the first thing I did was visit Professor Trelwany, even though I still don't trust divination, _especially _when it's done by her." Hermione told him. "She didn't seem very pleased to see me… but beside that, she seemed to have one of her real predictions again. I couldn't understand her though." Hermione frowned. "The only thing I did understand were the words, Chamber of Hope. So of course, I went straight to the library. Apparently, when Professor Binns told us about the Chamber of Secrets back in our second year, he left a lot of other stuff out. Somehow, Godric Gryffindor managed to find out about the Chamber of Secrets, and so he built the Chamber of Hope." She drew in a breath; Harry's eyes urging her to go on. 

"The Chamber of Hope was built to rid evil from the school, and kill the basilisk that _was _in the Chamber of Secrets. In the Chamber of Hope there's supposed to be the only griffin in the world. But the catch is that no one knows the entrance to _that _either. And even if someone found it, you would have to be able to speak pridetongue. I just found out about pridetongue today; it's the language of lions." 

"But why would Ron be in the Chamber of Hope? It's a place with good things in it." Harry asked her. 

"I wasn't done with my story yet, Harry." She explained. "So anyway, Salazar came back to the school when he found out about the Chamber of Hope. But he didn't want the other founders to know he was there, so he disguised himself as one of the students. While he was there, he managed to find the Chamber of Hope, but seeing as he wasn't a pridetongue, he couldn't open it. But he could put a curse on it, and he did. The curse turned the griffin in the chamber bad. So, seeing as the griffin was bad, he opened the Chamber of Secrets, and then Godric opened the Chamber of Hope, not realizing that the griffin was evil. So the griffin took sides with the basilisk and the whole school was nearly destroyed." 

"But Rowena and Godric teamed up and saved the school, while Helga went searching for the Chamber of Secrets so that they could put the basilisk back in it using a difficult charm. Rowena and Godric didn't kill the griffin or the basilisk, and Helga never found the Chamber of Secrets. All three of them died, and seeing as it was the griffin that killed them, their souls went to the Chamber of Hope." 

"Oh, Harry I don't think you ever knew this. But each ghost has a special ability depending on how they died. Helga died looking for the Chamber of Secrets, so now she can find anything. So I'm figuring that if we can find her ghost we can find Ron. That is, if she's willing to help." 

"But griffins…didn't Hagrid tell us that they never die because of old age?" Harry asked.

"Yes." 

"So that would mean that the griffin is still evil, and still in the Chamber of Hope." 

"Right." 

"So _that _means we would have to kill the griffin before we could get to her ghost." 

"Yep." 

"Oh. This is going to be harder than I thought. First we have to find the Chamber of Hope and then we have to find a pridetongue. Then we have to kill the griffin, and convince the ghost to help us. And _then_ we have to find Ron and kill whoever or whatever it is that might be guarding him." 

"And all the while, you still have to be Headmaster." Hermione reminded him. 

"Well, now all I need to do is to get Snape to give me loads of homework, and I then it will feel exactly like I'm really back at Hogwarts." 

Chapter Five: Finding Out

"What did she do this time?" 

"She put five filibuster fireworks in a fellow classmates cauldron during potions and blew up half of the class. Madame Pomfrey is fixing them up right now though, and they all seem to be doing just fine." Professor McGongall had brought in a young girl with scraggly, black hair that reminded him of someone…but he couldn't place his finger on it. She had bright blue eyes and looked to be in about her fifth year. She was very tall and actually very pretty. 

"Er, alright. You may go, Minerva." Harry said awkwardly. It was bad enough that all the students stopped talking when he walked by, but now he had to get used to calling all the teachers by their first names too. Professor McGongall stood there for a moment, then nodded her head slightly and walked out of the office. The girl stood staring up at him expectantly. 

"Well…um you, uh know that was…wrong, right?" The girl nodded her head vigorously. "And you…won't er, ever do it again?" The girl kept nodding. "Eh, all right then, you can go." The girl blinked up at him in surprise. 

"Aren't you going to punish me?" She asked quietly. 

"P-punish you…? Oh! Punish you…right…well er, what you did was…wrong…" 

"You already said that!" 

" Oh, yes, I did, didn't I…but anyway, er, you can…help…punishment…" Harry was lost for words. "Detention." He finally sputtered out. "With…uh…Professor McGongall." 

"Wow! Is that all?" She asked with wide eyes. 

"Er…yes." 

"Father told me that if the new Headmaster were anything like Armando Dippet, I'd be expelled from the school right away!" She exclaimed. _Armando Dippet! _Harry thought to himself. _Gosh, her dad must be pretty old. _

"Say…who is your father anyway?" 

"Rubeus. But most people call him Hagrid." 

Chapter Six: Hagrid's Secret 

Harry jumped from his chair right away. The girl jumped back, very startled. 

"Hagrid? The Rubeus Hagrid that's helping found Hogsmells?" 

"Well, yes. If you're his enemy or something…" the girl said, glaring at him suspiciously. 

"Heck no! Hagrid's always been one of my best friends! But…he never told me he had a daughter! I never even knew he was married!"   
"Er…yes but I'm not supposed to tell anybody about it, so I'll just be going now…" She headed toward the doorway, but Harry grabbed her arm. 

"Why can't you say anything about it?" 

"Just because alright?" She cried, struggling to get out of his grasp. "Hey let go!" She exclaimed. 

"At least let me your name. And your house." He demanded, finally letting go of her arm. 

"Fine. My name is Molly Hagrid, and I'm in Slytherien." She said slowly and carefully. "But I'm not telling you any more!" And she ran out of his office, Harry staring, shocked, after her. Still staring off into space he tried to plop down into his chair and missed. Very embarrassed and _very _glad that no one else was in the room, he pushed himself up off the floor and sat down in the chair. Seconds later, Professor McGongall opened the door and, once again, brought in a student in trouble. 

"Harry, this boy has…" but that was all Harry heard, because he found himself lost in his thoughts. _Hagrid has a daughter? We always spent so much time together, and I never saw her around his house, or the castle for that matter. He never told me! For heavens sake he never even acted like she existed! I know it's not a different Hagrid, she even admitted it. And what about the fact that she's in Slytherien? How is that possible? Hagrid was a Gryffindor… Come to think of it though, he never _did _tell me what house he was in…_ "Professor Potter!" Harry sat up suddenly.

"Huh?" 

"Do you wish for me to leave or not?" 

"Oh! Yes, yes…if you wish." Professor McGongall stared at him dubiously before finally heading out of the door. 

"So what did you do?"

~

"You'll never believe what I found out earlier today, Hermione." Harry whispered to her during dinner. 

"What?" 

"Not right now. I'm sitting at the very front of the table, too many people are looking at me for me to tell you anything without them getting suspicious." 

"Fine." 

~

"Ok, dinner's over, we're alone. Tell me what it is." Harry explained to her about meeting Hagrid's daughter and how she was in Slytherien. When the story was done Hermione bit her lip guiltily. 

"What?" Harry asked her suspiciously. 

"Well…I kind of already knew." 

"You already knew?" Harry asked her, completely shocked. 

"Yes. You know that time in our third year, when you and Ron were mad at me? And you remember how much time I spent at Hagrid's? Well while I was there, I didn't just tell him _my _problems, he told me _his _problems to me too." 

"Well than explain it to me too."

"Oh, Harry, it's such a long story and I'm not really supposed to tell anyone…" 

"Oh come on. I'm your husband and…" he sat down in a chair comfortably, "I have plenty of time." 

"All right then. Molly's mother's name is Sandra. Voldemort had fallen madly in love with Sandra and forced her to marry him. One reason he liked her so much was because she was an _incredible_ physic, and could predict anything, see where anything was, what was going to happen, anything you wanted. Sandra wasn't _really _in love with Voldemort, but she had to pretend that she was. Sandra met Hagrid in a bar one night. Actually, _she _was the one that gave him the dragon's egg _and _fluffy. They became very good friends, and eventually Sandra told him about the fact that she was married to Voldemort, and that she wanted to get away from him. Hagrid started helping her make plans to escape from Voldemort's grasp. Finally, after three years, Sandra managed to escape and fell in love with Hagrid and married him. Soon later she gave birth to Molly. No one is really sure if the father is Voldemort or Hagrid."

"Voldemort was still on the look out for Sandra though, and she was so worried that Hagrid would get hurt that she moved away from him. Then one day, when we were in our seventh year and Molly was in her first, Voldemort found Sandra and took her back, so right now she is still working for him. But since Molly was at Hogwarts and since Voldemort didn't know about her, she was safe, and started living with Hagrid. When he went off to found Hogsmells though she still lived in Hagrid's cabin during the summer. The reason she is in Slytherien is because her mother has some dark power in her, since she lived with Voldemort for so long, so she got some dark power too." 

"Oh. Wow, I never knew." Harry said, sounding shocked. 

"There's a lot you don't know about Hagrid." She whispered softly. 

"So does that mean that Molly is physic too?" 

"Yes, just as much as her mother." Hermione replied. 

"Hmm…she could come in handy." Harry suggested. 

"Yes, if she's willing to help. If she's not she'll be about as useful as Neville." 

"Wait a second! Hermione, did you say that she is so physic that she can find anything?" 

"Yes…" 

"Well then that means she could find the Chamber of Hope!" 

"That's very true, but we still don't know any Pridetongue's Harry. The Chamber of Hope is nothing without someone that can speak Pridetongue. We know that I can't speak it obviously, I'm a mudblood. You can't speak it; there's no one that can speak parsletongue and pridetongue. And even if Ron could speak it wouldn't do us any good, because he's the one missing in the first place."

"That's it! Ron must be able to speak it!" 

"Why do you say that?" 

"Well, you remember that report Professor Binns gave us in our fifth year that would help us find out about our magical ancestors? Well, one of Ron's ancestors was Godric Gryffindor! So Ron _must _be able to speak pridetongue!" 

"But Harry, it's _not going to do us any good! _He's the one missing!" Harry's face fell, then brightened again right away. 

"If Ron can speak it…Hey Hermione, do you know Ginny's phone number?" 

Chapter Seven: The Physic

Hermione was grinning widely. 

"I'll call her right up." She announced. She grabbed the phone next to her bed and punched in a few numbers. 

"Hi Ginny! No, we haven't found him yet…but we need your help. The kids? Get Lavendar Brown to do it. Now listen, have you ever accidentally spoken to a lion?… I _mean _have you ever accidentally spoken to a lion? You have? Awesome! Head down here right away." She hung up the phone. "Well we've got the pridetongue, now what?" 

"Now we just need to persuade Molly to help us find the Chamber of Hope and we'll be set. Everything else should go pretty smoothly." 

~

Molly Hagrid sat staring around icily at the common room, which shuddered in return. Somehow, the word had gotten out that she was possibly related to Voldemort. But everyone seemed to be sure that she was. Only her closest friend, Derek Malfoy, believed that Hagrid was her father. But Peter was shunning her too, because he was convinced that having Hagrid for a father was much worse. 

"Molly Hagrid, please report to the Headmaster's office right away." No one in the common room so much as snickered. When Molly stood up, Derek did too. 

"Professor McGongall said _Molly Hagrid_. _Not _Derek Malfoy." She snapped. 

"Just relax. I've been thinking and I'm sorry. I've been with you the last few days, so I know you didn't do anything bad, and I'm willing to stand up for you."

"Oh. Thanks." 

"Sure." The two headed out of the common room. 

~

"Molly…" Harry started when she stepped into his office, but then stopped right away when he saw anotherhead poke through the door. "Who are you?" 

"My name is Derek Malfoy, and I've been with Molly the last few days and she didn't do anything bad. Anything at all." 

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, startled. 

"Yes. Do you know my brother?" 

"Er…we've met. Anyway, Molly is not going to be punished, don't worry. I just need to see her." Derek continued to stand in his office. "_Alone._" He added. Derek just stood there. "One second." Harry said to them, then turned to Hermione, who was curled up in a chair, reading a book. "Hermione the other one is Malfoy's brother and _he won't leave!_" Harry whispered. Hermione looked up from her book with mild interest. 

"Then just say it while she's in here. Derek will eventually leave if you ignore him. That is, if he's anything like his brother." Harry nodded uncertainly than turned to Molly again. 

"Molly, I…I know that you're physic, and we need your help." Molly stared at him. 

"How do you know that I'm physic?" 

"Er…Hagrid told me." He lied quickly, but the girl still didn't seem convinced. 

"Why should I believe you?" 

"Eh…because?" Harry asked quietly. Molly laughed. 

"Fine, whatever. Now what do you want with my physic powers?" She asked, smiling. 

"We need you to find something." The girl's smile faded. 

"That's the hardest thing to do, and I can't always do it right." She replied softly. 

"Oh, that's alright. You can still try. We need you to help us find the Chamber of Hope." The girl stared at him. 

"I don't need my physic powers for that. I already know where it is."

Chapter Eight: The Pridetongue

"Chamber of Hope? What the heck are you guys talking about?" Derek asked. Molly turned to her. 

"Derek, I'm sorry but this doesn't really concern you, so you need to go." 

"No way. I heard that Potter goes on all sorts of adventures and I want to go on one too." He demanded stubbornly. 

"Derek, go." Molly said icily. Derek shook his head. 

"It's ok Molly. Once he sees the griffin I bet he'll _want_ to go." Derek stopped pouting immediately. 

"G-Griffin? What Griffin?" 

"There's a griffin in the Chamber of Hope Derek." Molly replied calmly. "And a lot of ghosts too. It's not some place you want to be, trust me." 

"Well than how come you're going there?" Derek demanded shakily. 

"Because I'm the only one who knows where it is!" 

"I don't care what any of you say, I'm going with you." Derek replied stubbornly, yet with a hint of fear in his voice. 

"Now Molly, please tell me how you know all about the Chamber of Hope." 

"Because…well 63 years ago, Hagrid was accused for opening the Chamber of Secrets, which he did not do. He had opened the Chamber of Hope, because he wanted to set the Griffin free. He never meant to hurt anyone, of course, but he did." 

"So 63 years ago, the Chamber of Secrets _and _the Chamber of Hope were both opened at the same time?" 

"Yes. My father told me where the Chamber was, so that I could open it during my school years here and set the Griffin free. Then again, the information never really did me any good, seeing as I'm not a Pridetongue. My father was though. That's one of the reasons he liked animals so much; because he could talk to some of them." Professor McGongall suddenly appeared in the doorway, making Molly stop talking immediately. 

"Harry, Ginny Weasley is here to see you." She stepped out of the room, showing Ginny with broom in hand. 

"Ginny! Thank goodness! Now we can finally go find the Chamber!" 

"Chamber? Of Secrets? No way! I'm _never _going back there again! Never ever, ever!" Ginny cried out in panic. 

"Not that Chamber." Hermione said, finally parting from her book and standing up. "The Chamber of Hope." 

"Chamber of Hope? What are you talking about? What's going on?" She asked shakily. 

"We think that we've found a way to find Ron." Harry explained. "Everyone ready?" He asked, not waiting for an answer. "Ok! Now Molly, please be so kind as to take us to the Chamber." 

~

"This is the room." Molly finally stopped in front of a tiny classroom that looked remarkably like Professor Snape's potions room. She walked across the room to an empty wall and started counting the stones. 

"Nine up, four across, land on the stone with a piece of moss." She muttered to herself, dragging her finger along the wall. "Tap the stone and you will find, the Chamber of Hope lying behind." She tapped the stone. It swirled out of sight, and was replaced by a stone with a lion on it. She stood up. "Alright, this is where the Pridetongue comes in." Ginny stepped forward shakily. Molly stood back next to Derek.

"What do I say?" She asked Molly uncertainly. 

"Anything along the lines of open sesame." Molly replied. 

"Open." Ginny said. She turned to the group, who shook their heads. "Open!" She pleaded with it again, in English. 

"You know Ginny, when I opened the Chamber of Secrets I moved my head a little bit. It helps." Harry suggested. Ginny smiled at him, then turned back to the stone, moving her head slightly. She opened her mouth, and a low growl came from it. Derek was shaking. The effects were exactly like when Harry had opened the Chamber of Secrets: It swirled out of site, exposing a large black hole in the wall that was quite large. 

"Nice job Ginny." Hermione praised her. Harry turned toward the two younger students. 

"You don't have to go into the Chamber of Hope. It's going to be very dangerous… Ginny, you don't have to go either." He told them. Molly however, was grinning.

"Hey, I may be only fifteen, but I am half dark wizard." Molly told him, rolling up her sleeves. "I can be really powerful, when I want to be." 

"Fine, if you want to." He turned to Derek. "Do you want to go?" He asked him. Derek looked from the hole in the wall, to Harry, then to Molly.

"If…if Molly's going then I'll go too." He said, trying to sound brave. 

"Well then if they're both going…then count me in." Ginny said.

"Alright let's go!" Harry said excitedly, but Hermione stopped him. 

"WAIT! Don't go yet, Harry. I'll be right back!" She hurried off, and returned momentarily with four brooms, (since Ginny already had one.) "This will make getting _out _of there a lot easier." She handed a broom to each of them, then added, "That is, _if _we get out of there." She sounded remarkably calm, and Harry and Molly looked remarkably excited, which shocked Ginny and Derek who were both shaking on the spot. 

"Everyone ready?" Harry asked, once again not waiting for an answer. "Ok, I'll go first." Holding the broom tightly in his hand, he stepped toward the hole, and stuck his legs into it. Using his free hand, he pushed off and disappeared into the blackness. 

"Me next!" Molly practically shouted. _She sure seems more like a Gryffindor than a Slytherien. _Hermione thought to herself, smiling. Molly ran up to the hole and soon had also disappeared into darkness. Hermione went next. 

"Ok, well you can go." Derek said. 

"Why don't you go?" Ginny asked him. 

"Because…er I'm younger." 

"So? That doesn't make a difference." 

"Sure it does." Derek protested. 

"Fine, whatever, I'll go first if I have to." Ginny said, sliding her legs into the hole. "Oh this is too familiar." She muttered, before finally disappearing from sight also. Derek stared at the hole, then finally shoved himself into it also. 

__

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Person after person came shooting out of the hole, until they were finally all there. 

"Ok, we should probably leave our brooms here, they'll just get in the way." Harry announced. After everyone had set down their brooms as quietly as possible, he started giving orders again. "Everyone take out your wand, you never know when you'll need it. We should only light one wand, it will be safer that way." He muttered "Lumos" and his wand lit up. They could now see that they were in a tiny room with walls made of light gray stones. There was no door, just a passageway leading off into darkness. The order they walked in was this: Harry first, then an excited Molly, then Hermione, then Derek and Ginny who were walking next to each other and shaking. Molly suddenly stopped, making Hermione, Derek and Ginny run into her. 

"Harry wait up!" Hermione hissed. Harry turned around and saw that Molly had stopped. 

"What's wrong?" He asked her. 

"Oh no." She muttered. "No, no, no, oh no." Molly was shaking, and began to collapse onto the floor. Hermione and Derek caught her. 

"Molly what's wrong?" Ginny asked in a shaking voice. 

"No! You can't have me!" She shouted. She reached out for Harry, who tried to grab her hand, but she started running away as soon as he had hold of it. 

"Molly stop!" Harry yelled, and started running after her. Everyone else followed. "Molly! Come back!" Harry yelled, trying to be quiet at the same time. They finally found themselves in a huge circular room. But they weren't the first ones there. 

Chapter Nine: The Griffin

"NO!" Molly shouted at the top of her lungs. Her face was streaked with tears. "YOU CAN'T HAVE ME! HARRY HELP!" Her feet were no longer moving, yet she was still moving backward. Behind her was a figure too familiar. _Much _too familiar for Harry and Hermione. He stood well over six feet tall, and his face was the most horrible thing that anyone in that room had ever seen. His eyes were almost glowing red, and his hair was tangled and matted and fell strangely over his shoulders. 

"V-Voldemort!" Ginny whimpered. "What have you done with Ron?" 

"I don't know what you're talking about. I've come for my daughter, and that's it." He said in his horrible voice. "But, seeing as you all are here, I might as well kill you while I'm at it." He lifted one hand simply and a glowing fireball formed in his hand. Grinning smugly, he threw it simply at Hermione. For a few terrible moments, Hermione was trapped in the fireball; a look of great pain on her face while it lifted higher in the air. It finally popped and she fell limply to the ground.

"Hermione!" Harry whimpered, and ran over to her. Molly was now next to Voldemort, still struggling to get away. Harry stood up; his face flushed with anger, and took his place next to Ginny and Derek once again. 

"We have to break the connection between those two." Ginny muttered. "Then Molly can come back." Harry raised his wand and said a few words. Moments later, a lightning bolt shot out of his wand, right through the area between Voldemort and Molly. As soon as it hit the space, they all got a quick glimpse of chains around Molly's wrists breaking. She ran back as fast as she could to them. Voldemort glared at them, then disappeared. 

"Is it over?" Derek asked shakily. 

"Knowing Voldemort, no." Harry replied, who had rushed back over to Hermione's side. 

"Is she still alive?" Ginny asked quietly. 

"Yes, but she's very weak. But she should be fine." As they were finally enjoying a moment of peace, Ginny sat up suddenly. Molly sat staring at the space where Ginny was looking. 

"Move." She said firmly. "Right now." They all did so, Derek and Harry carrying Hermione to a small niche in the wall. "Don't say a word, and don't move." She instructed. Everyone was absolutely silent and still. Moments later they knew why. Coming from the darkness was the strangest animal Harry had ever seen. _It must be a griffin! _He thought to himself. Ginny suddenly walked from their hiding place. The griffin growled at her. She growled back. The griffin looked at her in surprise, then growled once more. Ginny growled something to him, and then screamed as the griffin leapt at her. Harry and Derek both rushed from their hiding places to see if there was any way to save her, but they didn't need to. The griffin stopped in mid jump, and was frozen in the air, surrounded by a black sphere. The sphere started rising in the air. Harry could tell it was a very powerful spell, so powerful that he wasn't sure if _he _could cast it. He looked around wildly to see who was casting, and noticed that Molly was holding her wand tightly, and pointing it at the griffin, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. She grinned at him. 

"Told you I could come in handy." She said. 

"H-How are you casting that?" Harry asked her shakily. 

"I'm…giving it my energy." She grunted. 

"Is there any way I can help?" He asked her. She looked at him with surprise. 

"Oh… well you can give your energy too…but it probably won't work anyway. I'm giving it mostly my dark energy…I'm not sure what would happen if you gave it your good energy…" 

"You'll be able to get your energy back won't you?" Harry asked her worriedly. 

"Probably." She grinned at him. Molly slowly lowered her wand. "There. It should hold him there for a little while, but not too long." She smiled proudly, then plopped down on the ground, completely exhausted. In the meantime, Hermione had started stirring slightly. 

"Hey Hermione are you ok?" Harry asked her, while Derek tended to Ginny. 

"Yeah, but what happened?" 

"I'll tell you later." Harry sat down on the ground next to her. 

"Hey Harry! I just thought of something." Derek announced, helping Ginny up. 

"What?" 

"If Voldemort doesn't have Ron, then who does?" 

Chapter Ten: Helga Huffelpuff

"Guys, I can't hold the griffin much longer. I don't have enough energy left…I'm going to have to let it go in awhile, or else…I'll die." Molly grunted. 

"Ok, then lets go and try to find Helga's ghost." 

"Oh, you don't need to do that." A merry voice called. Everyone except for Molly and Hermione spun around stupidly, looking for the speaker. 

"Who-Who's there?" Derek called out. 

"I'm Helga Huffelpuff, of course!" There was a clap of air, and suddenly a chubby ghost that was smiling merrily appeared in front of them. "Why exactly did you want to find me?" 

"Well…our friend's missing…and we know that you can find anything, so we were wondering if…" Harry started, but the ghost interrupted him. 

"If I could find your friend for you, right?" 

"Er, yes." 

"Well, now that's something interesting. I don't think that Godric or Rowena would want me to go though." 

"Oh please ma'am." Ginny said, stepping forward, tears in her eyes. "He's my brother…and…and," she pointed toward Harry and Hermione, "and their best friend." 

"Now, now, no need to cry little one. I never said I _wouldn't _come, I just said that Rowena and Godric _wouldn't _want me to leave." 

"Then you'll come!" Harry said excitedly. 

"Well now, I never said that either." 

"Listen Helga, not that I want to be rude, but there's a griffin up there," he pointed toward the ceiling," that's going to be coming down here," he pointed toward the floor, "very shortly, and he's not going to be happy when he does. And while he won't bother you, he'll kill us. So please decide what you're going to do." 

"Alright, fine. I've decided while you were talking. I'll go with you and find er… what's his name?" 

"Ron." Hermione said. 

"Weasley?" She asked with some surprise. 

"Yes." 

"Oh! Then I'll help you find Ron Weasley." 

"You'll do no such thing Helga Mary Huffelpuff! You're staying right here where you belong!" Another ghost appeared beside Helga. She looked remarkably like Professor McGongall. A male ghost popped out of the air on the other side of Helga. 

"Yes, that's right. You belong here, and we will not allow you to help some live ones find a friend." He announced gruffly. 

"Godric," Helga said quietly, "the person who is missing is Ron. Ron Weasley." 

"Weasley?" He asked with surprise. "Why that's my ancestor!" 

"Yes, and he's missing. I'm going to help them find him." The male ghost crossed his arms. 

"Alright, but I'm only letting you go because it's my ancestor that's missing." He and the female ghost, (who was most likely Rowena Ravenclaw,) disappeared from sight again. 

It was definitely one of, if not _the_ strangest groups Harry had ever walked in. A half-dark wizard who happened to be the daughter of his mortal enemy, a ghost of one of the founders of Hogwarts, his wife, the brother of the person he despised most, and the girl who had had a crush on him up until she realized that he loved Hermione. Helga was leading the way, stopping every now and then to look around wearily, then continuing on her way. Molly stopped then once too, and told them she had just gotten all her energy back. 

She led them out of the chamber, out of Hogwarts and to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. 

"Right here." She announced proudly. Everyone looked around, and saw no sign of Ron. Hermione suddenly gasped. They all turned to look at her as she ran her hand across the air at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It rippled like water. 

"Of course! It's an illusion!" She said quietly. 

"It can't be! I've been to the forest tons of times!" Harry cried. 

"The forest must be on the other side of the illusion; someone went through an awful lot of trouble to do this. And I bet that Ron's on the other side of this wall." Harry gripped his wand. 

"Well we all better be careful, because I bet you anything he's not alone." 

Chapter eleven: We'll miss you…

Harry walked through the illusion first, and gasped when he got to the other side. He was in a small room. Ron was tied to a chair in one corner, and sitting in the middle of the room, was… 

"Professor Snape?" Snape grinned broadly. 

"You wouldn't believe how many times I've been mistaken for him." 

"Well if you're not Snape who are you?" Molly, (who had been listening to them talk,) asked. 

"Ah! Dear Molly! My lovely ancestor!" 

"What are you talking about?!" Harry demanded angrily. "And just who are you?" Helga Huffelpuff slid into the room and gasped. 

"Salazar!" She said, pure hatred in her voice. 

"In the flesh! And I do mean flesh. While that pathetic little Weasley over there is becoming a ghost," he rolled up one of his sleeves to look at his arm, "I'm becoming human. Voldemort tried it, so I figured I should too. Don't even try to save him, he's already mostly ghost. No energy left in him what-so-ever." He said as Ginny ran over to him. "Now to try my powers out again." He formed a green sphere in his hand that twirled out into a snake that wrapped itself around Harry. "Oh, it feels so good to use magic again." He watched as Harry started to break out of the ropes. "Why didn't that kill you?" Salazar asked, sounding surprised. "Oh yes, how could I forget, you're the famous Harry Potter." He sneered at him. "Molly dear, why don't you come sit up here with me and help me kill him?" Molly had been staring at Ron's limp body. 

"I don't want to." She said quietly. 

"Oh come now, it's fun…" 

"I DON'T WANT TO!" She shouted at him. "I DON'T WANT TO KILL HARRY, AND I DON'T WANT TO BE A DARK WIZARD!" Tears were streaming down her face. "I'd rather be dead." She whispered. Molly started walking slowly toward Ron. 

"What are you doing?" Harry asked her worriedly. 

"I'm going to give Ron my energy. Then we'll both be happy." 

"Don't do it!" Derek yelled to her. Molly didn't pay attention to him at all. 

"Molly! Come sit here with me, now!" Salazar snapped at her. Molly continued forward. Ron, who was still barely alive, opened his eyes slightly. 

"Put your hands up." She whispered to him. Ron did so, but his hands were shaking. Molly put her hands on his. A very bright white light started shining from both of them. As the light coming from Ron grew brighter, Molly started growing beautiful, long, white wings while her light grew dimmer. Her robes were changing also. Instead of hanging at ankle-length like they usually did, they were sweeping well past her feet. Her sleeves were growing shorter, and the waist of her robe was growing a little tighter, making her black robes into a beautiful white dress. Her hair was forming into a tight, neat bun. When the light coming from her had finally dimmed into nothingness, and the light from Ron was almost blinding, she was floating in air. And even though the light of her energy was gone, there was still another light coming from her. It was so beautiful that no one could exactly explain it. But it was brining tears to everyone's eyes, even Salazar's, (who was now a ghost again.) 

"Finally." Salazar sighed. "Real peace." Molly touched his hand softly. Salazar smiled up at her, and then he disappeared. Helga floated toward Molly, who touched her hand too. Helga disappeared. 

"Told you I would come in handy." She winked at Harry, and then disappeared to the same place that Salazar and Helga had gone. 

Chapter Twelve: Back to normal life

"Are you ok Ron?" Ron had just woken up in the infirmary. He was so overwhelmed having complete energy back that he had passed out.   
"Yeah, I'm fine." Hermione suddenly looked up from her book, a look of anger on her face. 

"OH!" Ron and Harry both jumped and turned to look at her. "I just realized! Why didn't we just ask Molly to find Ron for us in the first place?" Harry stared at her guiltily. 

"I already had thought of that a long time ago. But…if we had just asked her where Ron was we never would have gotten to go on that great adventure…and…" Hermione didn't look convinced. "Molly would never have been happy." Glaring at him, Hermione turned back to her book. Dumbeldore suddenly came through the door. 

"Is everyone alright?" He asked. 

"Professor Dumbeldore! Yes, we're all fine." Harry said, very excited to see his old Professor. 

"Harry, if you don't mind, I think maybe I should take my job back here…" 

"I don't mind at all sir. REALLY." Harry said. Dumbeldore laughed. 

"Good. Hagrid is taking over position as headmaster at Hogsmells." 

"Well it looks like we can all go back to our regular lives now." Ron said to Harry. 

"Yes." Harry said, grinning. "For awhile." 

~

A/N Hey I hope you all liked it! Please review!

  


Disclaimer: Harry, Ginny, Dumbeldore, Salazar, Godric, Rowena, Hermione, Voldemort, Hagrid, Hogwarts, Ron, Professor McGongall and the name Malfoy all belong to JK Rowling. Molly, Derek, The Chamber of Hope and the Griffin all belong to me. 


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